restaurant

A restaurant is a place — usually inside a building — where you go to eat food, which, most of the time, you must pay for.

Restaurant comes from the French restaurer, which means "to provide food for." Restaurants will provide food for you if you've got the cash, and most of the time they'll even let you sit down right there and eat it. Common examples of restaurants include burger joints, cafeterias, pizzerias, sandwich shops, steak houses, seafood shacks, (some) hot-dog stands, ice cream parlors, taquerias, Chinese takeout, (some) bakeries, and fine-dining establishments.

Definitions of restaurant
  1. noun
    a building where people go to eat
    synonyms: eatery, eating house, eating place
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    types:
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    bistro
    a small informal restaurant; serves wine
    brasserie
    a small restaurant serving beer and wine as well as food; usually cheap
    brewpub
    a combination brewery and restaurant; beer is brewed for consumption on the premises and served along with food
    cafe, coffee bar, coffee shop, coffeehouse
    a small restaurant where drinks and snacks are sold
    cafeteria
    a restaurant where you serve yourself and pay a cashier
    canteen
    restaurant in a factory; where workers can eat
    canteen, mobile canteen
    a restaurant outside; often for soldiers or policemen
    diner
    a restaurant that resembles a dining car
    greasy spoon
    a small restaurant specializing in short-order fried foods
    grill, grillroom
    a restaurant where food is cooked on a grill
    hash house
    an inexpensive restaurant
    lunchroom
    a restaurant (in a facility) where lunch can be purchased
    rotisserie
    a restaurant that specializes in roasted and barbecued meats
    chophouse, steakhouse
    a restaurant that specializes in steaks
    tea parlor, tea parlour, teahouse, tearoom, teashop
    a restaurant where tea and light meals are available
    automat
    a cafeteria where food is served from machines
    buttery
    a teashop where students in British universities can purchase light meals
    caff
    informal British term for a cafe
    cybercafe
    a cafe whose customers sit at computer terminals and log on to the internet while they eat and drink
    espresso shop
    a cafe where espresso is served
    estaminet
    a small (and usually shabby) cafe selling wine and beer and coffee
    pull-in, pull-up
    a roadside cafe especially for lorry drivers
    type of:
    building, edifice
    a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
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